I was in a parking lot so the lost of power steering and brakes werent a problem. this is what happened.

car was on whole time.

put car in park at store, let sister out.
went in Drive to bank window, put it in park.
Back in drive to a parking spot to wait for sister.
pulled up to store to pick her up. Put car in park, she opened the door and was getting in, i had brake on and put car in drive as she was getting in, she closed door i took off took one turn in parking lot, was making the 2nd turn and car shut off. radio was still playing.

put it in park, it started right up, hasn't repeated itself.

Friend said it sounds like a fuel pump.

I listed what i did, because i wasn't sure if it was some security thing with the changing gears.

I would check your fuel filter. It gets clogged with crap after a while. It gets hard for fuel to pass through, sometimes totally clogging it to where no fuel gets through at all. If you find yourself in that similar position again, beat the fuel tank with your hand as hard as you can, try starting it again, if it starts, you might have a fuel pump issue.

So is it fixed? The brakes will get hard because the brake booster isn't getting vacuum from the engine running. And the steering wheel is hard because the power steering pump isn't pumping because the motor isn't running. That is gonna happen to almost every car.

I had similar happen to a couple of my cars.... most recently my 04 CTS died on the train tracks and the radio started doing weird stuff. I replaced the apparently original battery. Problems gone.
My advice... if the problem could even remotely be electronical, check the battery first. And if it's more than 5 years old, just replace it.

I had similar happen to a couple of my cars.... most recently my 04 CTS died on the train tracks and the radio started doing weird stuff. I replaced the apparently original battery. Problems gone.
My advice... if the problem could even remotely be electronical, check the battery first. And if it's more than 5 years old, just replace it.

his battery is brand new, Im gonna guess its the ignition switch. It was touchy before I sold the car (informed him about it prior to sale) It was causing other issues and even turned off once for me years ago.

Put car in park, she opened the door and was getting in, i had brake on and put car in drive as she was getting in, she closed door

The 2004 models had a chivalry detector that lets the BCM know when a gentleman is supposed to open a door for a lady...It sensed the driver was being a lazy, insensitive clod by forcing a girl to open and close a door herself and went immediately to "punish" mode...Solution: Upgrade to Sister Bypass Sensor (SBS) and feel free to treat your sister like a sister again... ...Ben

_________________"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan~~~~~''Life's tough, pilgrim, and it's even tougher if you're stupid.'' - John Wayne

"A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for" - Cuthbert J. Twillie "It must be mounted on a tripod! It must be mounted on a tripod!" - Cmdr. Frederick Mohr, Imperial German Army

Put car in park, she opened the door and was getting in, i had brake on and put car in drive as she was getting in, she closed door

The 2004 models had a chivalry detector that lets the BCM know when a gentleman is supposed to open a door for a lady...It sensed the driver was being a lazy, insensitive clod by forcing a girl to open and close a door herself and went immediately to "punish" mode...Solution: Upgrade to Sister Bypass Sensor (SBS) and feel free to treat your sister like a sister again... ...Ben

lmfao.

It happened to be again, in the same parking lot. I think its possible my knee hit the key, idk how, but i tested it again once i got in a parking spot and i can shut off my car by my knee hitting the key chain. not enough that it would damage anything, but enough for the key to turn "off"

Guess it could be the ignition switch, not a big problem as i now have a good idea of what causes it.

My Malibu needs the ignition replaced as we speak. In the manual it states- if your car does not start leave key in the ON position for 10 minutes then start the car. It usually happens when it's warm out however it hasn't happened this year yet... Same thing as you are stating- also I was using a copied key. I went to the dealer, bought a brand new key, No problems for a long time. although it did happen a few times again since I have had the new key. $10 bucks i think...
I would drive down the road then BAM no engine. shift to neutral, start it up, then keep going. Or pull over and give it 10 min

I had same problem. My car started after few attempts and my engine stalled while driving once. It happened when I made turn on intersection so my steering wheel and brakes stopped working. Checking found problem with leaking pressure regulator. Probably this is your problem too.

_________________Here I am, 42, and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.